Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Now Covered by Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $270.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.43.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $185.83 on Tuesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $93.58 and a 1-year high of $212.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 24.69 and a quick ratio of 24.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.77 and a beta of 0.99.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $1.13. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 19.34%.The firm had revenue of $86.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 123.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $1,708,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 69,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,835,254.09. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.84, for a total value of $91,457.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,121 shares in the company, valued at $8,640,656.64. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,401 shares of company stock worth $1,972,576. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.